Former President Clinton criticizes Obama on taxes, hints at future Hillary run

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton leads a panel discussion on climate change at the Clinton Global Initiative, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

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Former President Bill Clinton criticized President Barack Obama’s approach to the deficit this week and hinted that his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, may still have presidential ambitions.

When asked by Newsmax’s Chris Ruddy on Tuesday if Hillary might consider a presidential campaign in 2016, a smiling Clinton did not rule out the possibility.

“You’ll have to ask her,” Clinton said. “But when we were kids and I met her and we started our now 40-year-plus conversation — I met her 41 years ago this last spring — pretty quick I decided that she was the ablest person in my generation. And nothing has happened in those 41 years to change my opinion.”

He continued: “If she wants to come home, I’ll be happy. If she wants to serve, I’ll be happy. But she has to decide that. All I know is I’m glad that she’s serving now.”

Clinton also said he found Obama’s approach to the deficit “a little confusing.”

“I personally don’t believe we ought to be raising taxes or cutting spending until we get this economy off the ground,” said Clinton, a former Arkansas governor thought to hail from the moderate wing of the Democratic Party. “If we cut government spending, which I normally would be very inclined to do when the deficit’s this big, with interest rates already near zero you can’t get the benefits out of it.”

“If it stays between Romney and Perry, I think Perry will have the juice of being perceived as the more conservative one, Romney will have the power of being perceived as perhaps more electable because he’s more moderate,” he explained.

The former president also praised his old antagonist Newt Gingrich as a smart candidate who could still shake up the race.

“The one thing that makes it very hard to count him out is he’s always thinking,” Clinton said of the former House Speaker. “He’s always got a bunch of new ideas and some of them are pretty good. So a guy that can still use his brain cells and come up with good ideas, you’re never really sure what happens there.”